Charles Zhang (Zhang Chaoyang 张朝阳) is the Founder, Chairman and current CEO of Sohu, China’s second largest Internet portal and the first Chinese-language search engine. Widely recognized as one of China’s Internet pioneers, Zhang has been on the Forbes China Rich List and was named by Time Magazine as one of the 50 Cyber Elite. Born in Xi’an in 1964, Zhang received his doctorate from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology before launching the Internet company ITC, which later developed Sohu.
Zhang recently delivered the keynote speech at a media forum in Beijing organized by Sohu. From Reuters:
China will never have its voice heard on the international stage unless the government loosens its tight grip over the media and film industry, the CEO of the country’s No. 2 Internet portal said Wednesday.
Charles Zhang, the often outspoken chief executive of Sohu.com Inc, told a forum in Beijing that plans to create global Chinese media giants were doomed to fail if the government did not relax controls.
CDT has translated portions of his talk below:
I was a student and scholar of physics before age 30. Until now, I have been to many countries, and have been part of many things. I have many thoughts on a lot of subjects. So please let me spend some time to talk about this today.
In Year 2049, many of us who are sitting here today will still be alive, and we will have many children and grandchildren. By that time, will all Chinese be able to live happily and with dignity, and have a lot of face in front of Americans? And will China be respected by the world? This has everything to do with now, with every person. Between now and the happy life in 2049 there are still a lot of ... « Back to Article

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